{"id":25329,"date":"2012-09-13T00:30:07","date_gmt":"2012-09-13T00:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/wordpress\/?p=25329"},"modified":"2013-05-27T02:33:32","modified_gmt":"2013-05-27T02:33:32","slug":"the-lure-of-whiteness-and-the-politics-of-%e2%80%9cotherness%e2%80%9d-mexican-american-racial-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=25329","title":{"rendered":"The Lure of Whiteness and the Politics of \u201cOtherness\u201d: Mexican American Racial Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lure of Whiteness and the Politics of \u201cOtherness\u201d: Mexican American Racial Identity<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

University of Texas, Austin
\n2004
\n185 pages<\/p>\n

Julie Anne Dowling<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the The University of Texas at Austin In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy<\/em><\/p>\n

Using a \u201cconstructed ethnicity\u201d (Nagel 1994) approach, this project employs multiple\u00a0methods to explore the racial identification of Mexican Americans. The U.S. Census has\u00a0grappled with appropriate strategies for identifying the Mexican-ancestry population for\u00a0over a century, including the use of a \u201cMexican\u201d racial category in 1930. I examine\u00a0historical documents pertaining to the 1930 Census and the development of the\u00a0\u201cMexican\u201d racial classification, as well as how Mexican Americans in the League of\u00a0United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) constructed \u201cWhite\u201d racial identities in their\u00a0efforts to resist such racialization. I then explore contemporary Mexican American\u00a0identity as reflected in current racial self-reporting on the U.S. Census. Finally, I conduct\u00a0fifty-two in-depth interviews with a strategic sample of Mexican Americans in five Texas\u00a0cities, investigating how such factors as socioeconomic status, racial composition of\u00a0neighborhood, proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border, social networks, nativity\/migration\u00a0history, Spanish language fluency, physical appearance, and political attitudes affect their\u00a0racial and ethnic identifications. Results indicate a complex relationship between\u00a0personal histories and local community constructions of identity that influences racial\u00a0identification.<\/p>\n

Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n